The present invention is directed to a cable particularly an optical waveguide cable, having a cable core with a filling compound to produce a longitudinal tightness, which core is surrounded by a barrier or continuing film having sub-areas of the internal surface provided with an adhesive layer with the remaining internal areas being free of the adhesive material and an outer sheath surrounding the barrier or confining film.
A cable, which has a core composed of core elements, which core is surrounded by a confining or barrier film whose inner surface is covered by an adhesive layer and whose outer surface also has an adhesive layer for a surrounding outer sheath, is disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 438,749, filed Nov. 3, 1982, which application was based on German application No. 31 44 851. The confining or barrier film has the purpose of providing a separation, which is as complete as possible, between the core filling compound or material on the one hand and the outer cable sheath on the other hand. In particular, when a barrier layer is non-metallic and nearly randomly ductile and hardly loadable, the non-reinforced sheath will slide under load on the core which is filled with a material such as petrolatum up to its limit of dilatability. It must therefore be guaranteed that this confining or barrier film does not promote sliding of the sheath on the core during drawing or assembling operation but in contrast reduces such sliding. This is particularly the case when no longitudinal reinforcing element, for example, glass threads, are introduced into the outer sheath which threads create the disadvantage of reducing the flexibility of the cable and also the disadvantage of increasing the cost of the cable.
It is known to employ polyamides, polyesters, polyurethane or other thermoplastic or cross-link materials for the confining or barrier film. For the purpose of better adhesion to the outer sheath which usually consists of a polyethylene, the confining or barrier film can be covered on one side such as the outer surface with a meltable adhesive, for example, an adhesive of either an acrylate base or a polyamide base.